


Of Mothers and Daughters

by softjoycebyers



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 10:37:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14669322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softjoycebyers/pseuds/softjoycebyers
Summary: Joyce and Jane have an impromptu girls night in, and share a heart to heart.





	Of Mothers and Daughters

**Author's Note:**

> Jopper is heavily implied. 
> 
> I posted this on tumblr, and I thought I should share on here as well. I'm new to this site, and I'm still trying to figure out how it works, so please bear with me. 
> 
> All mistakes are mine. 
> 
> There is a prequel to this story, that I will also be posting later. All feed back is appreciated, enjoy!

Joyce was walking out to the living room on her way to the kitchen, rocking the baby in her arms, when she spots her eldest daughter channel surfing on the couch. 

“Hey,” Joyce says, smiling at the young girl, surprised to see her. 

Jane tears her attention away long enough from the television to acknowledge her greeting, “hey.” 

“This is a nice surprise,” Joyce says coming closer to her. She was definitely not expecting too see any of the kids home on a Friday night. “I thought you were going over to Mike’s with Will for game night.” 

Jane shrugs nonchalantly, holding her arms out for the baby instead, already having placed one of the couch cushions on her lap to elevate her. 

Joyce gladly gives the baby over, placing her in Jane’s arms. 

“Hi Sammy!” She croons, lightly tickling the small one’s tummy, the baby gurgles in response. 

“I was just going to heat up her bottle,” Joyce smiles, watching the two interact, not expecting a reply from the teen who was now on a mission to make her sister giggle. 

“Why didn’t you go to Mike’s?” Joyce asks again once at the stove, waiting for the bottle to heat up in the pan filled water. She could have sworn both kids had asked to go out tonight. 

Jane rest her head on the back of the couch and says, “they’re in the middle of a campaign,” as if that was supposed to be obvious. “And I didn’t feel like visiting the nerd farm tonight.”

Joyce tries to cover her laugh with mock indignation on behalf of her son, “be nice,” she says.

“I’m always nice,” Jane coos to the baby in her lap. “Aren’t I Sammy?” 

Joyce comes back into the living room a few minutes later and hands the bottle to Jane to feed the infant, sits on the couch with her feet up under her, and watches as Jane tilts the baby’s head up slightly like they taught her. 

“Besides,” the girl sighs exasperatedly, “Max is out of town, and I’d have no one to talk to if I got bored. Those boys could go all night.”

“Well, I’m always glad to have you home,” Joyce says, reaching over to smooth the hair back that’s fallen onto the teens face. 

Jane doesn't flinch at the contact, used to the Joyce’s physical affection. 

“Don’t worry though,” she says after a beat, voicing Joyce’s unspoken thought, “Dad will pick up Will after he gets off work.”

The older woman smiles, accepting her answer. She had already figured as much, Hopper was going to pick them up anyway. 

They lapse into a comfortable silence after that, and watched Simple Minds’ Alive and Kicking music video on the TV as the baby suckled softly at her bottle. 

Once she was done and Jane noticed she had fallen asleep with the thing in her mouth, she passed the child back to Joyce to burp. 

“I’ll go put her down,’ Joyce says getting up. “Want to watch a movie?” 

“Yeah!” Jane beams, “Can I pick though?” 

Joyce pretends to think it over, already having an idea of what her daughter was going to pick. 

“Sure,” she finally concedes, leaving the room to put the baby to sleep.

*

“So what did you choose?” Joyce asks reclaiming her place on the couch. 

She’s not at all surprised when Jane giddly tells her she’s picked Dirty Dancing, and shows the VHS rental tape. 

“Of course,” Joyce replies as the girl goes to put it in the VCR. 

It’s the only movie Jane’s been obsessed with as of late, and she’s lost count of how many times she’s made them all watch it when it’s her night to choose. Not that Joyce would complain much, as she herself liked the movie, but Hopper would rather watch paint dry at this point than to have to hear Jane squeal everytime Patrick Swayze said “nobody puts baby in a corner”, and Will would try to always give it 30 minutes before he found something else he’d rather do. 

They settle in to watch the movie, Jane curled up on one side and Joyce on the other. 

Somewhere between Johnny teaching Baby how to dance and their Mambo at the Hotel, however, the energy in the room changed. Jane was no longer repeating the lines she’s come to memorize quietly to herself, or singing along to the songs she enjoys. 

“Joyce,” she says, belatedly realizing she’s even spoken out loud.  
Joyce trails her eyes away from the TV, startled a bit by the use of her name; she tries to shake off the sudden unpleasant feeling it gave her. 

“So it’s Joyce again?” 

“What?”

“I don’t know when that started happening, but I’m kind of partial to Mom,” she ribs gently.

Jane looks at her then, the thought never really occurring to her, “you are?” 

“Of course I do,” says Joyce without hesitation. “It’s an honor I get to share.”

She watches Jane think for a moment, seemingly waging an internal war with her thoughts to see if she should ask what’s been bothering her lately. 

“What’s wrong?” Joyce coaxes her. 

Jane isn’t intentionally trying to be difficult, Joyce knows this, so she waits her out. 

“What makes you think anything’s wrong?” 

“I know my kids,” Joyce says simply, shrugging. “I can’t tell there’s something on your mind.” 

As if arriving at some sort of impasse in her head, finally the young girl asks, “do you--” she stutters. “Do you think you might love the baby more than me?”

The question sounds lame to Jane’s ears, but Joyce is unphased, partly expecting this to come up sooner or later–though she would have rathered it would have been sooner than later. She wonders how long Jane’s been struggling with this thought. 

Insteading of voicing this outright Joyce says, “Is that what’s been bothering you?” she scoots closer to the girl, closing the gap between them and engulfing her in a hug. 

It takes a second, but soon Jane is hugging her back just as a fiercely. 

“I’m sorry,” the young one mumbles into her shoulder. “I didn’t mean to bring the night down.” 

Joyce shakes her head vehemently, “oh sweetheart, no” she cradles Jane’s face in her hands, forcing her to meet her eyes. “It’s a valid question.”

“Is that why you’ve been so distant?” When Jane doesn’t respond, Joyce adds, “You didn’t think I wouldn’t notice did you?”

Jane starts to apologize again but Joyce stops her. She should have realized this was an issue long before tonight. However, it wasn’t something Joyce could really force out of the teen. In the time when it was still just Jane and Hopper, Jane had learned to deal with her feelings, much like he did, on her own and until she reached her boiling point--not exactly the healthiest way of coping, but they were still learning. 

Out of the three kids, Joyce worried about Jane’s reaction to the pregnancy and baby the most. She didn’t want her to feel as though she were suddenly unwanted or being replaced because she thought her and Hopper wanted a baby of their own. 

All she could do was make herself as available as possible to Jane and Will if they had any questions, and involve them as much she could in the process of preparing for a baby. Up until that night she had no real inkling that something was truly wrong. But still, she thinks, she should have known that Jane’s distance was more than just a bout of teenage moodiness, and she made a mental note to check in with Will later as well. 

For the most part, Jane had never really doubted her place in the family. She knew her parents loved her, and they often showed her as much, but she still had her moments of doubt, and she was still getting used to the concept of familial love. It was something she often wondered if she’d ever get over. 

“And to answer your question,” Joyce says, breaking through the fog in the girl’s mind, “No I don’t.” 

“I don’t understand, how-- “ Jane mumbles. 

“I know it’s hard to understand, and it’s just it’s just as hard to explain,” Joyce chuckles. “But I do love all my kids equally. I’d do anything for you guys.” 

She has, she will, and would do again. 

“Me?” 

“Including you.” Joyce nods affirmatively, “Do you remember the first time we met? You were so scared, but so willing to help me find Will, and you didn’t even know me...us.” 

Jane shakes her head, remembering their first meeting, Joyce was the first adult she remembers being comfortable with. 

“I remember you shaking in my arms,” they lay back against the arm of the couch, arms wrapped around each other. “And your tears on my shirt. I knew then, and maybe even before that, that I wanted to protect you as much as I wanted to protect Will and Jonathan.” 

“And then you were gone for most that year,” Joyce continues as she runs her hand through her daughters hair, reflecting on feelings she’s never put in words. “And I really thought I’d never see that little girl again, and I missed you so much. I didn’t understand why, we were only in each other’s lives for such a short period of time.”

Jane hadn’t realized she was crying until Joyce wiped her face with her hand, “I still think your dad should have told me you were okay at least,” she says glumly, “I thought, if there was one person he should have told, it should have been me. Even if he wouldn’t have told me where you were.”

Joyce then recalls the inexplicable amount of relief she felt at seeing Jane again, an overwhelming feeling she still couldn’t quite describe, but she was just so happy that the child was alive, in spite of every other thing going wrong at the time. 

“But Jonathan, Will, and Sam– “ Jane tries again. 

“You, my darling, are just as much mine as they are. And I’m grateful everyday that your mama shares you with me.”

Jane burrows her in head in Joyce’s chest, “I love you mom.”

Joyce laughs, and tickles her side, “I love you too, little girl. Don’t ever doubt it okay? And if you do, I’ll be here to remind you. I never get tired of saying it.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @jolieryder on tumblr


End file.
